If you grew up in the early 2000s to 2010s like me, you might’ve watched an animated Barbie movie at least once. Starting off with Barbie in the Nutcracker in 2001, Barbie movies have since captivated child audiences and has spanned to add 41 more movies.
As a fun little joke, I like to call these series of movies the BCU or Barbie Cinematic Universe. Almost every person who grew up with these films, can name their favorite movie from this so-called BCU. Some people might say Barbie as Rapunzel or maybe even Barbie Fairytopia as their favorite.
Personally, my favorite is Barbie as Princess and the Pauper. However, that movie has been praised time and time again by long term Barbie enjoyers. Today I wanted to do a retrospective on another favorite of mine and perhaps the most criminally underrated Barbie movie, Barbie: Princess Charm School.
Here’s why Barbie: Princess Charm School is a personal favorite of mine! (Spoilers Ahead)
Blair Willows: A Down to Earth BCU Protagonist
Every single Barbie movie consists of Barbie playing a new character. She could be a princess or an actress or even a fairy. In Barbie: Princess Charm School it’s a little different, she plays Blair Willows. While she is a long lost princess, Blair isn’t quite like her magical predecessors. In the beginning, she works as a waitress at a cafe struggling to make ends meet. The movie even starts off with her working a long grueling shift. She does this in order to take care of her chronically ill mother and her little sister Emily. Her background makes her more down to earth than the rest of the BCU’s protagonists. Many of them are princesses who grew up being pampered. Blair didn’t have that luxury and had to work hard for most of her life as she’s the sole provider of income. She doesn’t even attend the school on her own accord as she wins a lottery she didn’t actually enter. She cares deeply for her family, as she only accepts the scholarship to make a better life for them.
Dame Devin: A Dark Barbie Villain and Regicide
Every Barbie movie has a villain. For Barbie: Princess Charm School, it’s Dame Devin. She’s a part of the royal family, as Queen Isabella’s sister in law and Blair’s aunt. However, she’s slightly more sinister than previous Barbie villains. She was a lottery winner like Blair, but nobody picked her as a lady royal. In a fit of anger, she deceived a plan to kill Queen Isabella and her whole family, which included baby Blair. There’s a huge difference between her and other BCU villains though–her plan was already completed. Her evil plan happened 17 years before movies’ events and was successful. Many Barbie villains don’t do something as big as regicide and have their plans actually working in their favor. The only thing she needed to do was keep her image afloat and get her daughter Delancy on the throne. However, once she noticed Blair attending her school, her plans started cracking. She started to slip by mistreating Blair and making her a target, which led to Blair discovering her lost heritage.
Delancy Devin: A Sweet Redemption Arc
Delancy is the queen bee of Princess Charm School and heir to the throne of Gardenia. Her mother, Dame Devin, looks out for her every move and groomed her to be a perfect queen. She also makes Blair a personal target as she feels Blair doesn’t belong. Delancy, however, is a very complicated character as she was raised essentially as a puppet queen for her mother. Her mother didn’t love her, but rather the power she could give her by being heir to the throne. She doesn’t know any better and grew up being a cruel person due to her mother’s influence. Once she finds out Blair is possibly the long lost princess, she does everything in her power to help her and reflects on her actions. Without Delancy’s help in the end and sacrifice, Blair would’ve never been crowned.
Addressing Gentrification
This one’s a bigger reason than the rest of these. I wanted to put a special note on this as I believe no other Barbie movie prior to this one addressed it before. When Blair and her classmates are visiting the palace, Dame Devin talks about what she wants to do with the kingdom. She states that the kingdom has “poorer neighborhoods are a blight to our otherwise beautiful community.” She goes to explain that they will bulldoze these neighborhoods to make parks. Blair calmly tells her that people, including her family, live in those neighborhoods already. Dame Devin isn’t convinced and says that those people will have to move elsewhere. Blair argues that they can’t just pick up and move as they can’t afford it. It’s very subtle and something I wouldn’t have picked up on as a kid. When you rewatch this movie as an adult, you slowly understand the implications of that scene and what they were addressing. Gentrification is a big issue in this movie, and the reason that drives Blair to make a claim for the throne.
Portia: A Funny Comic Relief
To end on a less serious note, I wanted to quickly talk about Portia. There isn’t much to say on Portia. She’s Delancy’s best friend in the film and my god she is hilarious. I think she’s the best side character and almost everything she says is funny. Here’s some of my favorite lines of her’s (slightly out of context):
“Look Delancy, they’re serving floor cakes!”
“Is it nap time? Nobody told me!”
“Delancy, that’s the pink line!”
End Reflections
Barbie: Princess Charm School is simply one of those movies that don’t get praised enough. I truly believe that it is one of the best BCU films. I think if people took the time to watch it, they’d see the charm of it like I do.